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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 31: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration II

BP 31.2: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 2. April 2014, 17:30–17:45, ZEU 250

Keratocyte-like movement of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum — •Christina Oettmeier, Jonghyun Lee, Erik Bernitt, and Hans-Günther Döbereiner — Institut für Biophysik, Universität Bremen, 28359 Bremen

We report on a particular motility pattern in P. polycephalum, which closely resembles the forward movement of fish keratocytes. When microplasmodia are plated upon an agar surface, they will fuse and form a network in a percolation transition [1]. However, under certain environmental conditions, the microplasmodia fuse into wedge-shaped structures ("satellites") and start to move outwards for several hours. The satellites are laterally elongated, with one large, curved growth front along the front arc. They move unidirectionally for several cm and maintain a half-moon shape. This behaviour has not been described in P. polycephalum locomotion before, but is characteristic for, e.g., fish keratocytes. One mutant Dictyostelium cell line, however, was shown to exhibit this movement as well [2]. We characterize the morphology and different phases of development of the satellites, using light microscopy, fluorescence imaging and electron microscopy. The fact that both Dictyostelium amoebae and vertebrate cells are relatively small whereas P. polycephalum is huge and multinucleate, makes the discovery of a seemingly common movement pattern significant for further investigation of universal modes of motility. [1] Fessel, Oettmeier, Bernitt, Gauthier, Döbereiner, PRL 109 (2012) [2] Asano, Mizuno, Kon, Nagasaki, Sutoh, Uyeda, Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton 59 (2004)